Scott Davis

Monday was a monumental day in tennis history with some major events occurring – perhaps most notably the birth of John McEnroe 50 years ago, but as you will see from the below excerpt from my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, www.tennishistorybook.com), there were many other major events that happened on this day. Also pasted below are events that happened today, February 17, highlighted by Justine Henin’s 41st – and final WTA Tour singles title.

February 16

1926 – In one of the most hyped and anticipated matches in the history of the sport, Suzanne Lenglen of France beats American Helen Wills 6-3, 8-6 at Cannes, France in the final of the Carleton tournament – the only career meeting between the two tennis legends. The Associated Press calls the match, “a wonderful match between the greatest women players of the old and new world…which packed the stands with enthusiastic supporters of the two contestants and brought together huge clamoring crowds outside the gates who were unable to get in.” Fans unable to purchase tickets, sit on root tops of neighboring houses to catch a glimpse of the two women’s champions. “From the point of view of tennis, the contest was not what had been expected, but after all, the interest lay in the meeting of Suzanne and Helen, long deferred and at one time thought never to come,” reports the AP. “For weeks, little else had been talked of.”

1959 – John McEnroe, known perhaps more for his fiery temper tantrums as much as his deft touch and artistic serve and volley game that corrals seven major singles titles, is born in Wiesbaden, West Germany. McEnroe bursts onto the scene at Wimbledon in 1977 as an 18-year-old qualifier, reaching the semifinals before losing to future rival Jimmy Connors. After one year at Stanford University in 1978 – where he wins the NCAA singles title – McEnroe embarks on a professional tennis career that nets him 77 singles titles and 78 doubles titles. He wins his first major singles title at the 1979 U.S. Open, defeating fellow New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis in the final. He goes on to win the next two Open finals – beating Bjorn Borg both times – and again in 1984 for a fourth time over Ivan Lendl. His battle with Borg in the 1980 Wimbledon final is regarded as one of the greatest matches of all time and the two legends play a 34-point fourth-set tie-break – McEnroe saving five match points to extend the match into a fifth set. McEnroe, however, is denied the Wimbledon title, falling to Borg 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16), 8-6. A year later, McEnroe finally breaks through to beat Borg in the 1981 Wimbledon final – his first of three singles titles at the All England Club, also winning in 1983 and 1984. McEnroe’s best season comes in 1984 when he posts an 82-3 won-loss record, but his French Open loss to Ivan Lendl that year, after leading two sets to love, was one of his career biggest disappoints. McEnroe was a loyal supporter of the U.S. Davis Cup team, helping the U.S. to titles in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1992.

1992 – Martina Navratilova becomes the all-time singles titles leader in professional tennis, defeating Jana Novotna 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5 in the final of the Virginia Slims of Chicago for her 158th career singles crown. Navratilova breaks the tie she previously held with the retired Chris Evert, but is well ahead of Jimmy Connors, the men’s record holder with 109 singles titles. Says Novotna of Navratilova’s achievement, “It’s a credit to Martina for her comeback and her historic match. I don’t think she felt the pressure of the record so much as the pressure I put on her. I was the one who pushed her to the limit.”

1968 – In the longest doubles match of all-time – 6 hours, 20 minutes – Bobby Wilson and Mark Cox of Britain defeat Charlie Pasarell and Ron Holmberg of the United States 26-24, 17-19, 30-28 in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Indoor Championships in Salisbury, Md. The first set lasts 2:05 and the third set lasts 2:35. The match starts at 4:40 in the afternoon and doesn’t finish until 11 pm!

1985 – Martina Navratilova defeats Chris Evert 6-2, 6-4 to win the first ever women’s singles title at the Lipton International Players Championship in Delray Beach, Fla. ”I still have more to do to improve as a player, to show people what I can do,” Navratilova says following the match. ”There is still a long way to go to be the greatest player in the world. I haven’t been playing as well lately. My game is to and I had been giving too much credit to Chris’s passing shots.”

2003 – Playing in his 31st – and ultimately his last – ATP singles final, Marcelo Rios of Chile loses in front of his home crowd to Spain’s David Sanchez 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the championship match at the BellSouth Open in Vina del Mar, Chile.

1992 – MaliVai Washington wins his first ATP singles title, defeating Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-2 in Memphis, Tenn. Washington does not lose a set in his five matches en route to the title, including his semifinal win over Jimmy Connors.

February 17

1985 – Tim Mayotte wins his first ATP singles title in the first-ever Lipton International Players Championships in Delray Beach, Fla., defeating former Stanford University teammate Scott Davis 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the final. Mayotte, ranked No. 45, benefits from an overruled call that would have given the No. 27-ranked Davis a crucial service break in the third set, but holds serve and comes back from two-sets to love to win the $112,500 first prize.

2008 – Justine Henin wins her 41st – and final – WTA Tour singles title, defeating Karin Knapp of Italy in the final of the Proximus Diamond Games in Antwerp, Belgium. Three months after the final, the 25-year-old Henin shocks the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport, despite ranking No. 1 in the world. Henin’s final tournament victory also occurs in the final staging of the Proximus event in Antwerp after a 10-year run.

2001 – Stanford sophomore Laura Granville sets an NCAA record defeating Vanderbilt’s Julie Ditty 6-4, 6-1 in the USTA/ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wis., for her 58th consecutive victory. Granville breaks the record she shares with Stanford’s Patty Fendick-McCain, who sets the record while at Stanford in 1986-87. Granville’s victory at No. 1 singles helps top-ranked Stanford beat No. 13 Vanderbilt 5-1.

2008 – The Murray brothers from Scotland – Jamie and Andy – are victorious in events held in different continents. Andy wins his fifth career ATP singles title in Marseille, France, defeating Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-3, 6-4 in the final. In Delray Beach, Fla., Jaime Murray wins his fourth career ATP doubles title, pairing with Max Mirnyi of Belarus to defeat Bob and Mike Bryan 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 (Match Tie-Break) in the final of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships.

2008 – Eighteen-year-old Kei Nishikori of Japan – ranked No. 244 – becomes only the second player from Japan to win an ATP singles title, defeating James Blake of the United States 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the final of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Fla. Nishikori, who comes back from facing triple match point a 3-6 in the final-set tie-break in the semifinals the previous day against Sam Querrey, wins eight matches in nine days to win the title, including three matches in the qualifying tournament. Shuzo Matsuoka was the last – and only other – Japanese player to win an ATP singles title, winning in Seoul, Korea in 1992. Nishikori also becomes the youngest player to win an ATP title since Lleyton Hewitt wins in Adelaide at the age of 16 in 1998. Says Nishikori, “I can’t believe I won this tournament.” Says Blake, “He’s only 18? I’m very impressed.”

2007 – Defending champion Andy Murray defeats Andy Roddick 7-6 (8), 6-4 in the semifinals of the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., – the second consecutive year that Murray defeats Roddick in the semifinals of the event. Roddick is only able to convert on one of his six break point opportunities during the match. Says Roddick after the match, “I didn’t covert them, so I deserve to lose.”

Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco added another chapter in the history of tennis with their men’s semifinal epic at the Australian Open. The two Spaniards battled for 5 hours, 14 minutes – the longest singles match in the history of the Australian Open – before Nadal edged his Davis Cup teammate 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4. Boris Becker and Omar Camporese held the previous record for the longest match in the history of the Australian Open when Becker edged the Italian standout 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 0-6, 4-6, 14-12 in 5 hours, 11 minutes in the third round in 1991. Many media outlets are mis-reporting that the Nadal-Verdasco is the longest match of any kind at the Australian Open. However, the Nadal-Verdasco match is not the longest match ever at the Australian Open according to THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95 New Chapter Press, www.tennistomes.com) as Pieter Aldrich and Danie Visser won a 5 hour, 29 minute marathon men’s doubles match in the 1990 quarterfinals, defeating Scott Davis and Robert Van’t Hof 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 23-21. The last set of this match alone took 2 hours, 53 minutes.

Bud Collins, the Hall of Fame journalist and historian, documents the longest matches in the history of the Australian Open in his authoritative book. The updated list of longest matches at the Australian Open are as follows;

One of the great things about THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS is that many of these statistics and lists can only be found in this book (sometimes the records that Bud has compiled are better and more detailed than the record books of the actual tournaments.)

The longest singles matches at each of the four majors is as follows:

FRENCH OPEN

6 hours, 33 minutes – Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14, first round, 2004 French Open – played over two days) This match is also the longest recorded match of all-time.

A new chapter in tennis history was written Monday on Day One at the Australian Open, but luckily, it was only written in pencil. Gilles Muller of Luxembourg defeated Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 16-14 in a match that was originally recorded as lasting 5 hours, 35 minutes, making it the longest match in time in the history of the Australian Open. However, about two hours after the conclusion of the match, it was revealed that the PDA device used as the official scorecard of the match by the chair umpire, wrongly added 71 minutes to the time of the match – with the official time of the match actually being 4:24. Therefore, Boris Becker and Omar Camporese still hold the record for the longest match in the history of the Australian Open when Becker edged the Italian standout 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), 0-6, 4-6, 14-12 in 5 hours, 11 minutes in the third round of the 1991.

Bud Collins, the Hall of Fame journalist and historian, documents the longest four matches in the history of the Australian Open in his authoritative new book THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.tennistomes.com). They are as follows:

One of the great things about THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS is that many of these statistics and lists can only be found in this book (sometimes the records that Bud has compiled are better and more detailed than the record books of the actual tournaments.)

Incidentally, the record for the longest men’s singles match in GAMES in Australian Open history came in 1970 when Dennis Ralston defeated John Newcombe in 93 games – 19-17, 20-18, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. I actually had the pleasure of meeting Ralston for the first time this past weekend at the USPTA/New England Coaches Conference at Wentworth-by-the-Sea in Portsmouth, N.H. Ralston heard from attending coaches of my new book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.tennishistorybook.com) and immediate came to the New Chapter Press booth to buy a copy. Ralston was a 1987 inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and best known for winning the Wimbledon doubles title in 1960 as a 17-year-old and for helping the United States to Davis Cup titles in 1963 as a player and in 1972 as a captain, the latter with dramatic away victories against Spain in the semifinals in Barcelona and the epic final against Romania in Bucharest. Tim Mayotte, who lost to Pete Sampras in the second-longest men’s singles match by time in 4 hours, 59 minutes (as document above) was also in attendance in Portsmouth. Mayotte is also the coach of the Boston Lobsters World Team Tennis franchise.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – New Chapter Press has announced the publication of its latest book – On This Day In Tennis History -a calendar-like compilation of historical and unique anniversaries, events and happenings from the world of tennis through the years – written by Randy Walker, the sports marketing and media specialist, tennis historian and former U.S. Tennis Association press officer.

On This Day In Tennis History ($19.95, 528 pages), is a fun and fact-filled, this compilation offers anniversaries, summaries, and anecdotes of events from the world of tennis for every day in the calendar year. Presented in a day-by-day format, the entries into this mini-encyclopedia include major tournament victory dates, summaries of the greatest matches ever played, trivia, and statistics as well as little-known and quirky happenings. Easy-to-use and packed with fascinating details, the book is the perfect companion for tennis and general sports fans alike and is an excellent gift idea for the holiday season. The book features fascinating and unique stories of players such as John McEnroe, Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Chris Evert, Billie Jean King, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Anna Kournikova among many others. On This Day In Tennis History is available for purchase via on-line book retailers and in bookstores in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. More information on the book can be found at www.tennishistorybook.com

Said Hall of Famer Jim Courier of the book, “On This Day In Tennis History is a fun read that chronicles some of the most important-and unusual-moments in the annals of tennis. Randy Walker is an excellent narrator of tennis history and has done an incredible job of researching and compiling this entertaining volume.” Said tennis historian Joel Drucker, author of Jimmy Connors Saved My Life, “An addictive feast that you can enjoy every possible way-dipping in for various morsels, devouring it day-by-day, or selectively finding essential ingredients. As a tennis writer, I will always keep this book at the head of my table.” Said Bill Mountford, former Director of Tennis of the USTA National Tennis Center, “On This Day In Tennis History is an easy and unique way to absorb the greatest-and most quirky-moments in tennis history. It’s best read a page a day!”

Walker is a writer, tennis historian and freelance publicist and sports marketer. A 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s Marketing and Communications Division, he served as the press officer for the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1997 to 2005 and for the U.S. Olympic tennis teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He also served as the long-time editor of the U.S. Open Record Book during his tenure at the USTA from 1993 to 2005.

New Chapter Press is also the publisher of The Bud Colins History of Tennis by Bud Collins, The Roger Federer Story, Quest for Perfection by Rene Stauffer and Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games byTom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli and the soon to be released title The Lennon Prophecy by Joe Niezgoda. Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press is an independent publisher of books and part of the Independent Publishers Group. More information can be found at www.newchapterpressmedia.com

Mark Keil, tennis teaching instructor at the Westboro Tennis and Swim Club, MA writes on two exciting events going on in the states this summer. The tour stop in Cincinnati, is now a big Master Series event. The winner in singles and doubles gets a free membership for life in the ATP Tour. I think it is is the hottest tour event all year, and can sap all of your energy. I teamed up with Peter Nyborg of Sweden in 1995. We beat Arnaud Boetsch of France, a former Davis Cup player. He partnered the current player Vince Spadea of Boca Raton, Fla. We played great and won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the next round we drew Jared Palmer, the NCAA singles and doubles champion out of Stanford. His dad was the curator of the Palmer Academy, a tennis school in Tampa that produced many junior champion’s. Jared had the best technique, he played like Richard Avedon was taking his picture on every stroke. He was a Davis Cup doubles team member, and also reached top 40 in the world in the ATP singles rankings. His wingman that week was Richey Reneberg, the most unheralded American player ever. This guy played solid every time he stepped on the court. He was the king of eating room service, and hardly ventured out of his room. He played Davis Cup doubles for the United States, and played in a few dead rubbers in singles also.

He did play a few practical jokes on player’s with his mate Scott Davis. They use to travel with the “winger,” a sling shot for firing water balloons from hotel balconys. One year at Queen’s, John McEnroe was practicing on an outside court, and these two dudes fired balloons from the clubhouse and kept hitting a metal shack next to his court, making him even more paranoid than he already is. We lost 7-5, 6-3.

At this time of year I played World Team Tennis for the Idaho Sneakers. Boise is a nice town, and Patrick McEnroe picked me to play doubles with him. The South African Michael Robertson was our coach, and I could have given a better effort. He ended up being my coach for awhile, and I learned how to think more on the court. Katie Schlukebir, Debbie Graham, Gigi Fernandez, and Wesley Whitehouse rounded out our team. We would always have early morning flights to the next city to play, and it was an exhausting but fun experience. Patrick would travel with a medicine ball, and it was tough putting it up in the carry on bins on the plane. Gigi was a multiple major doubles champion along with two Olympic gold medals, and had scary volleys. Debbie had a bigger serve than me, and had an unbelievable playing record at Stanford. Katie was a very sweet girl, who relished on the gossip of our season. Whitehouse won the Wimbledon junior singles title, and had a lot of angst that it didn’t carry over to the pros. We finished 3-11, mainly due to my unprofessionalism. All in all, being a part of the team was enjoyable and I picked up a lot information on how to be a better tennis player. The road to the US Open continues, and what a ride it is.